PDP Faction Declares Dona Nwogbo Winner of Enugu Governorship Primary

A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State has announced Chief Dona Nwogbo as the winner of its governorship primary election ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Nwogbo emerged victorious in the primary election held on Thursday across the state. The exercise also produced candidates for the Senate, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly seats.

The development comes amid the lingering leadership dispute within the PDP in Enugu State, with another faction led by Chief Vitus Okechi having earlier conducted separate primaries that produced former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, as its governorship candidate.

Declaring the outcome of the governorship primary, the Returning Officer for the Enugu PDP primaries, Yarima Edachaba, described the exercise as peaceful and widely attended by party members.

“By the grace of God, you can see that we have declared the winners of these primaries. By next year, the election itself will commence in full. The turnout was massive in the places we visited. There was no violence or fight in any way,” Edachaba said.

He commended party members for their peaceful conduct throughout the exercise and expressed confidence that the party would remain united ahead of the general elections.

Speaking after the collation of results, the Acting Chairman of the factional PDP in Enugu State, Steve Oruruo, described the exercise as a demonstration of internal democracy and transparent leadership recruitment.

“What happened today was the final collation of the PDP primaries which emanated from different wards via direct primaries. It was a glamorous outing that marked the end of elections in terms of primaries. This is the quality of PDP that was presented without rancour and with a sense of equity and fairness,” Oruruo stated.

According to him, the quality of leadership in any society is largely determined by the transparency of the process through which leaders emerge.

“Leadership recruitment process should determine the coloration of quality leadership. So the warped value and poor leadership threat that we have witnessed over the years are just mere products of bad primaries of parties. Today we have presented a primary devoid of rancour, quarrel and skirmishes,” he added.

Oruruo also dismissed claims of division within the party, insisting that the PDP leadership structure under his faction remains legally recognised.

“Enugu has never had any crisis in the PDP. The leadership of this party exists courtesy of a court judgment that has never been vacated. Beyond this, the Supreme Court made it clear that it is the Board of Trustees led by former Senate President Adolphus Wabara that controls the PDP.

“That leadership has since appointed leaders at the national level to man positions in the PDP and they are in charge of the processes today. Any contrary action is null and void,” he said.

The party also unveiled its senatorial candidates, with Basil Aguigwo emerging for Enugu West Senatorial District, Dr Nwatu Anthony for Enugu East Senatorial District and Lady Asogwa Beatrice for Enugu North Senatorial District.

For the House of Representatives, Isaac Onoyima emerged candidate for Igboeze South/Nsukka Federal Constituency, while Nwatu Chukwudi secured the ticket for Nkanu East/West Federal Constituency.

Lilian Ugwuoke emerged candidate for Enugu East/Isi Uzo Federal Constituency, while Onah Uchechukwu picked the ticket for Aninri/Awgu/Oji River Federal Constituency.

Others include Nnaji Erobuike for Enugu North/South Federal Constituency, Chief Cosmas Onyia for Udi/Ezeagu Federal Constituency, Anikezie Michael for Igbo Etiti/Uzo Uwani Federal Constituency and Eze Ephraim for Udenu/Igbo Eze North Federal Constituency.